Red
by Roxal
Summary: Not again, not again, please God, not again! Warnings: Violence. Status: Complete. [Monster of the Week]
1. Opening

Open on a classroom. Children are laughing and playing. One girl is sitting stone still. Her face is filled with curiosity slowly turning to fear. Blood is oozing out of the leg of a desk in front of her. The girl is horrified. She stands up and screams. Children rush toward and away from her. In the confusion, the bloody desk is knocked over on a boy. A pair of scissors fall off, making a deep gash in his leg. He bleeds profusely and screams. The girl has her arms crossed, hugging herself.  
  
Girl (crying) Not again, not again, please God, not again!  
  
Opening 


	2. Chapter One

Move through police station finding Mulder, Scully, and the occasional prostitute.  
  
Mulder (reading off the case file) ...She says that she can see blood before someone gets hurt. The poor girl hasn't opened her eyes since the last incident, claiming that the accidents are all her fault.  
  
Scully What's she doing in a police station? According to the reports she obviously didn't hurt anyone.  
  
Mulder (semi-jokingly) You know those zero tolerance policies, Scully. No one is above suspicion.  
  
They arrive at a questioning room. They and the guard exchange nods, he lets them in. The girl is sitting there, arms folded the same way as before, but her eyes are closed now. Mulder offers Scully the chair. She sits and Mulder leans against the back wall.  
  
Scully (in a soothing voice) Hi Alice. I'm Agent Dana Scully and this is Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI. We-  
  
Alice (cuts her off) Have you come to take me away?  
  
Scully (confused) Take you away? Why would we do that?  
  
Alice (seriously) Because i'm a danger to society, didn't they tell you that?  
  
Scully (reassuringly) Alice, all these accidents you saw were a coincidence, they're not your fault...  
  
Alice (raises her voice slightly) But you don't understand... I can see them before they happen.  
  
Mulder What do you mean, see them?  
  
Mulder is no longer in a reclined position. He has leaned forward to show his interest in the girl.  
  
Alice I don't actually *see* the accidents before they happen, but I see the blood, God, so much blood...  
  
Tears are starting to leak through her closed eyes. The Agents see the frailty of this girl. She must be only 11 or 12. This was too much for such a young girl to endure. Her face showed an age her body could not.  
  
Scully (soothing again) It's alright Alice, everything is ok now...  
  
She touches Alice's hand but Alice pulls away.  
  
Alice (yelling) No! It's not alright! You didn't have to watch your best friend die and know you could have stopped it!  
  
Die? All they had heard of was several recent accidents, mostly minor injuries, a few were hospitalized, but no deaths...  
  
Alice (tearfully) She's gone... and I could have stopped it.  
  
Scully Alice, it's...  
  
Mulder (he cuts her off again) How did she die, Alice? What did you see?  
  
Tears were streaming down her face now in the worn paths of old ones.  
  
Alice (crying throughout) That was when it first started, two years ago. We were- we were out in the woods, next to the railroad tracks near her house. We were playing tag. Running through the forest, occasionally across the tracks, falling over roots and scraping our knees. We were just kids, ya know? (a smile touches her lips, but as soon as it comes, it is gone) While I was running, I brushed something wet. I looked at my arm, and... it was blood. Scarlet blood. More brillant red than regular blood. I looked at my arm, but I wasn't cut. There was no blood on the branch I had touched. I looked back at my arm, but the blood was gone. But I was 10, so I just brushed it off like nothing. I was 'it', and I had lost my lead, so I ran to catch up to Ella, but... (sob) I don't know what happened... we must've gone deaf for a second, because I stood there dumbfounded while Ella ran across the tracks... (sobs harder) she didn't even have time to scream. But the blood was there... so much blood. 


	3. Chapter Two

Mulder and Scully are exiting the police station, about to get in their car.  
  
Mulder (irritated) What do you mean it's not an x-file?  
  
Scully Mulder, I think what we're seeing here is a very disturbed little girl. We should try not to feed in to her delusions or we could emotionally scar her for life! I mean, we're not social service workers, we're FBI Agents.  
  
Mulder Fine, you go ahead and stay out of it. I'm doing a background check on her, maybe get a little more information about her friend Ella... although it would help a lot if you could possibly get ahold of Ella's autopsy data.  
  
Scully tries to look stern.  
  
Mulder Pleeease? He makes a puppy-dog face. Scully's expression changes to a smile.  
  
Scully Oh, alright, alright, I'll help you.  
  
They close the car doors and drive away. Meanwhile, back with Alice, a psychiatrist is trying to get Alice to open her eyes. Alice, of course, is refusing angrily.  
  
Doctor (as kindly as he can) Come on Alice. I've heard that you have the most darling blue eyes. Why won't you let me see them?  
  
Alice (angry) I told you, you'll get hurt!  
  
Doctor (showing only slightly that he is getting irritated) Please Alice? Keeping your eyes closed will only hurt you.  
  
Alice (sarcastic) As opposed to the people I love? I'd rather keep them closed!  
  
The doctor is getting impatient. Alice has put her hands over her eyes now. The doctor tries pulling her hands off. Alice is struggling and saying, no! no! but the doctor persists. Eventually he gets what he wants. Alice screams in her child's voice.  
  
Doctor Oh my God...  
  
Alice has her eyes opened wide. They're red. Hollow red. No white, not even pupils, but bright, scarlet red. The doctor backs up against the wall, cringing.  
  
Alice (in a demonic, unearthly voice, but with her real voice underlying it) I told you not to do that.  
  
Those eyes are more peircing than any other feature on her face. Suddenly a pen flies toward the Doctor. It stabs him in the heart. He slowly slides down the wall, leaving a trail of scarlet blood behind. It suddenly turns to a darker shade. Alice blinks and her eyes turn blue again. Realizing what has happened, she collapses and is out cold in her chair. 


	4. Chapter Three

Scully is dressed in scrubs, hovering over the dead psychiatrist. She positions the over head lamp above the body. A deep sigh escapes her as she cracks her neck. She clicks the tape recorder on.  
  
Scully Subject is doctor Hubert J. Farnsworth. Caucasian male, age: 37. Weight: 170 pounds. Time of death: 2:51 p.m. May 22. Apparent cause of death: stab wound to heart by a ball point pen. I am now examaning the wound.  
  
Scully is slightly taken aback by shock from her discovery.  
  
Scully There seems to be a small burn radius around the pen. (pause) I am now removing the pen and preparing for the y-incision.  
  
Scully removes the pen and starts slicing and dicing. She remains focused on the burned area.  
  
Scully The burn around the pen goes straight to the victim's heart. The skin and tissue are charred, but the burn did not clot the blood vessels, which is very...  
  
Mulder Strange?  
  
Scully clicks off the tape recorder as Mulder enters, file in hand. Mulder looks at the body.  
  
Mulder Wow... what happened to this guy?  
  
Scully It appears that he was stabbed through the heart with a ball point pen, which is creepy in itself, but there's a small burn area around it. And...  
  
Mulder and...?  
  
Scully This all happened in the questioning room with Alice. We tried to check the tapes, but something's wrong with them. They're missing the time between him prying Alice's hands off her face and the good doctor sliding down the wall.  
  
Mulder That IS creepy. I did a background check on Alice, and it turns out she was adopted. Social services took her away from her parents after they found out they were practicing pagan infant sacrifices. Her adoptive parents have provided her with a middle-class home, good food and nice clothing. If it weren't for that first part, she's your average american pre-teen. Except for her discipline record. She's gotten 4 suspensions lasting two months or longer, 3 refferals, and so many detentions I don't want to count them. They're mostly for fighting.  
  
Scully So she has a violent history, so maybe she DID hurt those people on purpose and the psychic phenomena is all made up. It's a classic cry for help. We can't prove she's seeing what she's seeing.  
  
Mulder But for most of those accidents she's witnessed she was no where near the people involved.  
  
Scully So she made those up too.  
  
Mulder No, her past must have something to do with this. We need to speak to her again. Did you get the autopsy data on Ella?  
  
Scully Yes. She was mostly chopped up from being sucked under the train, but there were small 1" wide burn marks in sraight lines on parts of her. It's like the wheels of the train burned her...  
  
Mulder Just like the doctor... I think I found something. You finish up here and then we'll go question Alice.  
  
Scully I don't know if that's possible Mulder...  
  
Mulder Why not?  
  
Scully She's in a coma.  
  
Mulder A coma? What happened?  
  
Scully We don't really know. When the guard rushed in, the doctor was dead and Alice had passed out. They thought she'd be fine, but she just lapsed into a coma.  
  
Mulder We need to go see her.  
  
Mulder leaves and Scully stays to finish up. 


	5. Chapter Four

They arrive at the Cedars-Sinai hospital in northern Seattle where Alice is being kept. The two enter Alice's hospital room. Alice is laying on the bed, i.v. in arm, heart monitor beeping. They look at eachother reminiscently. The girl's parents are sitting at her bedside crying. The mother looks at them, and then away. Her husband puts a reassuring arm around her. Having gone through this with her own child, Scully feels for them. She decides to talk to them.  
  
Scully Mrs. McGee? I'm Agent Dana Scully with the FBI.  
  
Mrs. McGee What do you people want with our daughter? She's never hurt anyone! Just go away and leave us alone.  
  
She turned back to her unconscious daughter and held her hand.  
  
Scully I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't go away. We need to ask you some things.  
  
Mr. McGee You'll have to forgive my wife. She's very protective. I don't know if you'll get any cooperation from her, but I'd be glad to help you.  
  
Scully Thank you sir. Do you want to discuss things in the hallway?  
  
Mr. McGee I think that would be for the best.  
  
The three leave Alice's room and the sobbing Mrs. McGee. Mr. McGee looks back at her sadly, and then at his shoes. Mulder was first to talk this time.  
  
Mulder Sir, has anything like this ever happened to your daughter before?  
  
Mr. McGee Yes, actually... but never this severe. She's passed out several times. Now, don't tell my wife I said this, but Alice can be a violent child. She fights a lot, and that's mostly when she faints, after fights. It's the darndest thing. The doctors have no idea what's causing it. She just goes out for a couple minutes, and then she's fine, but never like this...  
  
A tear trickles from his eye as he looks longingly back at his poor daughter's limp body. This hits a chord with Scully. She remembers Emily lying in her hospital bed, but she shakes it off.  
  
Scully Mr. McGee, do you have any idea what causes her fights? Like the other child taking something from her, or saying something nasty?  
  
Mr. McGee No ma'am. She won't tell us. I guess she's just a natural born bully. But maybe her real parents have something to do with this. Do you beleive in curses, Agent Scully?  
  
Scully (smiling) My partner would be the one to talk to about that, sir.  
  
Mulder What kind of a curse, Mr. McGee?  
  
Mr. McGee Well, you've heard why she was taken away from her parents, didn't you? The social workers that gave us Alice said that when she was being hauled away, her parents were yelling nonsense words after her, and saying 'see the red and see them dead!' I'm a superstitious man, so I think that those evil people done somethin' to hurt my baby. 


	6. Chapter Five

Mulder and Scully are in their car, driving back to their motel. Scully, as ever, is playing the skeptic. Mulder is trying to figure how a curse would tie in with Alice's behavior.  
  
Scully I don't get it. A curse? She said all this psychic phenomena started when she was ten. What kind of curse waits ten years to start working?  
  
Mulder Maybe there was no curse. Maybe they were trying to heal her but that would only last for ten years. Ella was the only accident she witnessed when she was ten. Her fighting started when she was eleven, and the really bad accidents started this year. Her parent's healing spell is wearing off.  
  
Mulder's eyes lit up. He pounded the steering wheel with an open palm.  
  
Mulder That's it!  
  
Scully What's it, Mulder?  
  
Mulder That's why they killed their children, that's why all of the victims have small burns on them, that's why she passes out after fighting, that's why there were ten seconds of lost tape at the police station!  
  
Scully Mulder, what are you saying?  
  
He was getting giddy with his breakthrough. He turned off the highway onto a smaller road.  
  
Mulder We need to talk to Alice's parents.  
  
They drive down the road, leaving behind a sign stating: NORTHERN SEATTLE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIE STRAIGHT AHEAD. 


	7. Chapter Six

Mulder and Scully arrive at the prison. The interior is very foreboding. Scully feels afraid, but is not sure why. It's as if pure evil is eminating out of the walls. She walks closer to Mulder for comfort. He senses this and brushes her hand with his. She suddenly feels better, but she can't shake her feelings of impending doom. They finally arrive at the room where they are to question Joshua Barker, Alice's real father. Neither Agent sat down. The air was thick with unanswered questions. After a brief silence, Mulder spoke.  
  
Mulder Mr. Barker, you're aware that one of your children is alive and living with an adoptive family, correct?  
  
Joshua's face did not show fear as Scully's was. It rather showed shame and regret. His hand and ankle chains clanked as he changed positions.  
  
Joshua Yes, sir. I'm aware of that.  
  
Mulder Are you also aware of the recent events surrounding her?  
  
Joshua No sir, but I have an idea... Someone's died, haven't they?  
  
The Agents' faces showed surprise, but Mulder looked kind of happy. This tied in with his theory. The parents knew what this girl was capable of.  
  
Scully Yes. Two, actually. How did you know?  
  
Joshua I know this girl. I know what she can do. She's evil. I see that you're scared. You should be. Don't cross this girl or she'll kill you.  
  
Scully shakes off his comment about her apparent fear.  
  
Scully I spoke with Alice, Mr. Barker, and she seemed like a nice girl, but she seemed more like the victim than the killer.  
  
Joshua Funny her name is Alice. Alice in Wonderland. But in her world, Wonderland has gone to hell, and she's the Red Queen, but she doesn't know it. She IS the victim. She has life long possesion. Evil is breeding inside her, and since she's killed, it's getting stronger. There is only one way to stop her from taking more lives: she must die.  
  
Scully And I suppose that's what you were going to do yourself, but she was taken away from you before you got the chance.  
  
Joshua Yes. We didn't get the chance. We did the only thing we knew to do: we tried a healing spell. On pure evil like that, though, there are no guarantees. I'm surprised it lasted this long.  
  
Mulder So this possesion would account for her violent behavior, correct? Why does she faint afterwards, Mr. Barker?  
  
Joshua She's fighting a silent war. Outside, she's unconscious. Inside, she's the victim of herself. It's battle that can't be won. The fainting will get worse and worse until the demon wins her soul. Then she'll die. Sometimes her demon takes over her body completely. Her eyes turn red and she can kill with only her mind. It's a sad thing, but you can stop her now that you know.  
  
Mulder Mr. Barker, how did she get this way?  
  
Just as Joshua was about to open his mouth, the guard came in. He looked as scared as Scully felt.  
  
Guard Agents, she's escaped.  
  
Scully What? How?  
  
Guard She killed the nurse and got out through the window in her room.  
  
Scully starts to leave, but Mulder puts his hands on the table and asks Joshua again.  
  
Mulder How, Mr. Barker?  
  
Joshua Find her, and all shall be answered.  
  
Mulder turned to go, but Joshua added to his statement.  
  
Joshua She must die, sir. Believe you me, she must die.  
  
Mulder took one last look at him and left. As he and Scully were leaving, she turned to him.  
  
Scully So, was your theory right?  
  
Mulder (sheepishly) I wasn't TOO far off.  
  
They smiled and kept going.  
  
Scully I don't know why, but I have the worst feeling that something bad is going to happen... 


	8. Chapter Seven

Mulder and Scully arrived back at the hospital where Alice had been kept. They flashed their badges to the cop standing at the entrance to Alice's room. Mr. and Mrs. McGee were there, both crying. On one side of the room was a body covered by a sheet, surrounded by blood. The Agents walked over to it an kneeled next to it. Scully pulled back the sheet to reveal a nurse. She was in her mid-20s, dark brown hair, hazel eyes opened wide. Pulling the sheet down further revealed the slit in her throat. A scalpel rested near her head.  
  
Detective There were no finger prints on the scalpel.  
  
Scully and Mulder looked up.  
  
Scully No... (she stands) there wouldn't be.  
  
Detective Pardon me?  
  
Scully Never mind. So how did she escape?  
  
Detective It appears that she climbed out the window.  
  
Scully walks over to the window and looks down.  
  
Scully Pretty long fall, wouldn't you say? Especially without a ladder or a rope.  
  
Detective We don't know how she did that either. No one saw her in the hallway. A nurse was making her rounds when she saw this young woman here dead.  
  
Mulder Any ideas as to where she may have gone?  
  
Detective (lowers his voice and leans in) Well, we're not sure, but we think she went home. We called her parents here for their own safety, incase she's still violent.  
  
Mulder Well we should go check that out then.  
  
The detective nods in a 'you go do that' way. The two take one last look at the crowded room. Scully's eyes settle on the weeping mother. Her bad feeling returns and she motions to Mulder that she wants to go. They exit the room and walk silently down the hall. 


	9. Chapter Eight

The agents pulled into the driveway of the old two-story house. It was one of those places where your closest neighbor was 5 miles away. After they found that the doorbell didn't ring, Mulder kicked the front door in. It was dark inside the house. Scully flicked the light switch on and off, but to no avail. The two pulled out their trusty flashlights and made their way quietly through the house.  
  
Scully Alice? Alice, are you in here?  
  
She made her way up the stairs cautiously. Mulder chose to stay on the ground floor. Scully shined her flashlight up into the darkened hallway, when suddenly she heard a crash downstairs.  
  
Mulder SCULLY!  
  
She dropped her flashlight and ran towards the scream. She entered the kitchen to see Mulder's back. She slid her way in to see something shining in the new moonlight inches from her partner's face.  
  
Scully (under her breath) Oh God...  
  
Taking a few steps more, she saw that it was a butcher's knife. Mulder was breathing heavily, frozen solid. In front of the knife was Alice. Scully looked at the girl. She was... glowing, with a soft red aura. Her features were indistinguishable, but her eyes pierced the darkness like two red embers in a dying fire.(this sound is hard to describe, but i'll do my best) She was making a strange sound. It was like a child giggling mixed with creaking and moaning. It sent shivers up and down her spine. She was almost as frozen as her helpless partner. She was breathing hard, taking small steps back.  
  
Scully (thinking) What the hell is this? What is going on?  
  
Then she saw something that made her stop in her tracks. The knife was backing up. Scully was panting now, trying to shake off fear's paralyzing grip.  
  
Sculy (between breaths) Oh God... OH, GOD, NO!  
  
The knife flew at Mulder's face, but Scully tackled him to the ground. The knife hit the wall behind him. Scully looked up at the attacker. Alice could now be fully seen, her whole body lit up by her aura. The red and orange filled the room. She was furious. Her hair stood on end and she screamed. As she did, drawers flew open, forks, spoons, knives, dishes all flew around the kitchen. Scully crawled out of the room, dragging the still-stunned Mulder. She pulled him up and they ran out the front door. 


	10. The End

The two scrambled behind the car and ducked down. Scully peered over the hood just in time to see the house ignite. The kitchen was in the front of the house, and through the window she saw Alice fall over. She stood up and looked down at Mulder. He was still afraid. She had never seen him like this, but he had never seen pure evil. Not like she had. She closed her eyes, then opened them. She could feel the heat from the fire. Joshua had said that Alice must die, but Scully's maternal instincts wouldn't have it. She ran into the inferno.  
  
Scully Alice? Alice!  
  
Scully ran into the kitchen. She grabbed the little girl and picked her up. Very heroicly, she carried her out of the house. Gently, she placed her in the back of the car and called 911. Now all they could do was wait. (wait to die, wait to live, wait for an absolution, that would never come. hey, it's my fic! i can quote titanic if i want!) The fire engines and ambulances pulled up, sirens blaring. Mulder was feeling better now. He and Scully had sat next to eachother silently for about 20 minutes. A car pulled up in front of them. Mrs. McGee jumped out.  
  
Mrs. McGee Where's my baby? Where's Alice? Were is she?!  
  
Scully heard something moving inside the car. Alice sat upright.  
  
Alice Mommy?  
  
Mrs. McGee Alice!  
  
The woman ran to the girl and hugged her. It was the only peaceful scene admist the chaos.  
  
*3 MONTHS LATER*  
  
Scully is sitting at her computer typing up notes. They read:  
  
It has been three months since our encounter with Alice. Since that time, she has not run into one problem at school. She does her homework, gets A's and B's, and fits in well with the other children. In fact, she has become quite popular. How did she recover from these traumatic experiences so quickly? Maybe she did what everyone wants to do. She faced her demons and won. Did she kill the people that were part of her so-called 'psychic' phenomena? There is not enough conclusive evidence to say that she did. But there still isn't enough to say that she didn't. For these reasons, and for the time being, the status of this case shall remain 'unexplained'.  
  
Scully flicks off her computer. She removes her reading glasses and heads toward her bedroom. She shuts off the hall light. Next to her computer, illuminated only by the moonlight, is a single red rose.  
  
THE END 


End file.
